Catcher's equipment - A catcher is the target for the pitcher, so the catcher must wear protective gear that covers the majority of his body. Catcher's gear includes a helmet with a faceguard that is similar to a hockey goalie's mask, a chest protector, shin guards, and a special padded glove. Some catcher's also wear devices called knee savers, which are triangular pads that attach to the players calves and rest his knees even while squatting behind the plate.

A fungo bat's size and weight make it easier to operate with one hand or two. Coaches can toss a ball up with one hand and hit pop flies or ground balls farther and with greater accuracy with a fungo bat than with a regular bat. According to an article by LJWorld, high school baseball coach Brad Stoll said fungo bats allow him to hit more balls because heavier regular bats would "wear you out." Fungo bats should be used as a practice tool only and should not be used to hit a pitched ball.

A fungo bat's size and weight make it easier to operate with one hand or two. Coaches can toss a ball up with one hand and hit pop flies or ground balls farther and with greater accuracy with a fungo bat than with a regular bat. According to an article by LJWorld, high school baseball coach Brad Stoll said fungo bats allow him to hit more balls because heavier regular bats would "wear you out." Fungo bats should be used as a practice tool only and should not be used to hit a pitched ball.
Both wooden and metal alloy (generally aluminum) bats are generally permitted in amateur baseball. Metal alloy bats are generally regarded as being capable of hitting a ball faster and farther with the same power. However, increasing numbers of "wooden bat leagues" have emerged in recent years, reflecting a trend back to wood over safety concerns and, in the case of collegiate summer baseball wood-bat leagues, to better prepare players for the professional leagues that require wood bats. Metal alloy bats can send a ball towards an unprotected pitcher's head up to 60 ft 6 in (18.44 m) away at a velocity far too high for the pitcher to get out of the way in time. Some amateur baseball organizations enforce bat manufacturing and testing standards which attempt to limit maximum ball speed for wood and non-wood bats.[17][18][19]
Chris Coste, a former catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies who coaches at Division III Concordia, in Moorhead, Minn., agreed. “When baseball is every single day, you’ve got to do things differently,” he said. “In the big leagues, they get so many ground balls during batting practice that infield is more for the fans and more for the scouts and things like that. At this level, we need it, and we love doing it.”
Players can be very particular about their bats. Ted Williams cleaned his bats with alcohol every night and periodically took them to the post office to weigh them. "Bats pick up condensation and dirt lying around on the ground," he wrote, "They can gain an ounce or more in a surprisingly short time." Ichiro Suzuki also takes great care that his bats do not accumulate moisture and thus gain weight: he stores his bats in humidors, one in the club house and another, a portable one, for the road. Rod Carew fought moisture by storing his bats in a box full of sawdust in the warmest part of his house. "The sawdust acts as a buffer between the bats and the environment," he explained, "absorbing any moisture before it can seep into the wood."[25]
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Manufacturers position each bat's label over the mechanically weaker side of the wood.[9] To reduce chance of fracture,[9] and maybe deliver more energy to the ball,[10] a bat is intended to be held so the label faces sky or ground when it strikes the ball during a horizontal swing.[9] In this orientation, the bat is considered stiffer and less likely to break.[11]
A baseball bat is divided into several regions. The "barrel" is the thick part of the bat, where it is meant to hit the ball. The part of the barrel best for hitting the ball, according to construction and swinging style, is often called the "sweet spot". The end of the barrel is called the "top", "end" or "cap" of the bat. Opposite the cap, the barrel narrows until it meets the "handle". The handle is comparatively thin, so that batters can comfortably grip the bat in their hands. Sometimes, especially on metal bats, the handle is wrapped with a rubber or tape "grip". Finally, below the handle is the "knob" of the bat, a wider piece that keeps the bat from slipping from a batter's hands.
There are limitations to how much and where a baseball player may apply pine tar to a baseball bat. According to Rule 1.10(c) of the Major League Baseball Rulebook, it is not allowed more than 18 inches up from the bottom handle. An infamous example of the rule in execution is the Pine Tar Incident on July 24, 1983. Rules 1.10 and 6.06 were later changed to reflect the intent of Major League Baseball, as exemplified by the league president's ruling. Rule 1.10 now only requires that the bat be removed from the game if discovered after being used in a game; it no longer necessitates any change to the results of any play which may have taken place. Rule 6.06 refers only to bats that are "altered or tampered with in such a way to improve the distance factor or cause an unusual reaction on the baseball. This includes, bats that are filled, flat-surfaced, nailed, hollowed, grooved or covered with a substance such as paraffin, wax, etc." It no longer makes any mention of an "illegally batted ball". In 2001, MLB approved the use of Gorilla Gold Grip Enhancer in major and minor league games as an alternative to pine tar.[23][24]

The Wright & Ditsons Lajoie baseball bat. This bat had a normal size barrel but had two knobs on the handle. The lowest knob was at the bottom of the handle and the other knob was roughly two inches above the lowest knob. This was designed to have better spacing between the hands due to the knob being in the middle of the grip. This also gave batters an advantage when they choked up on the bat, because the second knob provided a better grip.

First-base coach Daryl Boston has been working Palka with fungo drills. — Phil Thompson, chicagotribune.com, "Yoan Moncada has untapped power from right side, Rick Renteria says," 23 May 2018 While the Angels took infield before the Texas finale Wednesday, Ohtani stood by the cage with a bat in his hand waiting for BP near where Scioscia was hitting fungo to some infielders. — Stephen Hawkins, chicagotribune.com, "Shohei Ohtani eager for more as Angels balance work for 2-way star," 12 Apr. 2018 And dad liked to take us to Lincoln Park and hit fungos to my twin brother, Javier, and me. — John Hickey, The Mercury News, "Adam and Will Rosales proselytize for baseball," 11 Apr. 2017 Since then, his only baseball activity has been hitting one-handed fungos to teammates in ground ball practice. — Nick Groke, The Denver Post, "Colorado skipper Bud Black faces the Padres with a new perch; Rockies still scanning Desmond, Dahl and Murphy," 10 Apr. 2017
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Players can also create complex holes such as ‘two-part holes’ where the players must hit or reach one object before attempting to shoot at the hole. For example, a ‘two-part hole’ could consist of hitting the scoreboard first, and then once they have hit the scoreboard they must hit the ball back to home plate, that would be one hole with the player with the fewest strokes winning the hole. ‘Two-part holes’ are typically saved for the last hole in order to make things more complex and difficult on the leader.